James Michael Botsay

Background

James Michael Botsay was born on 06/29/1964 to James Louis Botsay and Barbara Giroir. He had two sisters, Joan and Dawn.

Michael attended Bonnabel High School in Kenner before enrolling at Retts Electronic Training Center in New Orleans, where he was studying to become an electrician. His family described him as enthusiastic and doing well in school.

His mother remembered him as a giving person who loved his family.

Michael was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Case Summary

During the early morning hours of 10/24/1982, Michael and a male friend visited several bars in the West End area of New Orleans. The two separated for a time while socializing. Approximately 90 minutes after arriving at one bar, his friend saw Michael with a young woman.

Later, Michael became involved in a confrontation with two men at Augie Delago’s Lounge. The men accused him of having “ripped them off” in a drug transaction believed to have involved Quaaludes. According to his friend, Michael handed them a clear plastic packet containing pills. During the argument, one of the men pulled a gun but put it back beneath his coat when people began leaving the lounge. Michael’s friend intervened, pulled him away from the men, and the two eventually left.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on 10/24/1982, Michael left his Kenner home in his white 1975 Ford Mustang, telling his family he was going to LaPlace to visit a girl. His family had not known him to have previously visited LaPlace or to know anyone there.

Investigators later learned that two teenage girls, ages 17 and 14, were in LaPlace that day and planned to hitchhike to California. The younger girl was a runaway from Alexandria. Michael reportedly picked up the girls while accompanied by another man and drove them a short distance. Investigators believed the younger girl may have been the same person he had met in the West End earlier.

After dropping off the girls, Michael was last seen with the unidentified man. One of the girls later told investigators that the man resembled one of the two men involved in the earlier confrontation. The second girl, located years later, did not recognize either man depicted in police composite sketches.

Michael’s mother reported him missing to the Kenner Police Department on 10/25/1982 after he failed to return home or contact his family.

On 10/26/1982, his locked Mustang was found abandoned on U.S. 61, or Airline Highway, at the Destrehan Canal. The vehicle was facing east toward Kenner, approximately halfway between LaPlace and Kenner. It had not run out of gas and showed no apparent signs of mechanical trouble.

On 11/18/1982, surveyors discovered Michael’s decomposed remains beside the Destrehan Canal, approximately one mile from where his vehicle had been found. The site was in undeveloped marshland that required wading through waist-high water to reach.

Michael was wearing a T-shirt, blue jean cutoffs, blue-and-white Nike tennis shoes and socks. A brown tri-fold wallet containing his driver’s license and personal papers was recovered with his body, along with a set of keys, coins and a gold chain bearing the initial “B.”

An autopsy found a gunshot entry wound to the left side of his head with an exit wound on the right. No weapon or projectile was recovered at the scene.

Michael’s family said he had previously used drugs but had undergone approximately seven months of rehabilitation and, to their knowledge, was no longer having problems with drug use at the time of his disappearance. The investigation, however, indicated that he had continued using drugs.

Suspects/Persons of Interest

No suspects or persons of interest have been publicly identified in the death of James Michael Botsay.

The men involved in the confrontation at Augie Delago’s Lounge are described as:

Person of Interest 1 – White male, approximately 20–25 years old, about 6 feet tall and 150–160 pounds, with shoulder-length brown hair and a mustache.

Person of Interest 2 – White male, approximately 20–25 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 170 pounds, with a stocky build, short crew-cut brown hair and clean-shaven.

One of the female hitchhikers later reported that the unidentified man accompanying Michael in LaPlace resembled one of the men involved in the earlier confrontation. The second hitchhiker, located years later, did not recognize either man depicted in the sketches.

Timeline

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Research Notes

This profile will be updated as requested public records are received.

Sources

• L’Observateur, “Botsay Youth Remains Missing,” 11/11/1982.
• L’Observateur, “$500 Information Reward Offered in Botsay Case,” 11/14/1982.
• L’Observateur, “Botsay Services Held,” 11/25/1982.
• L’Observateur, “Two Men Sought in Botsay Murder,” 03/10/1983.
• Southwest Daily News, “Investigators Find New Trail in 20-Year-Old Killing,” 12/12/2002.
• L’Observateur, “Detective Hot on Trail of ‘Cold’ Case,” 12/14/2002.
• St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, James Botsay “Homicide – Nov. 18, 1982,” Unsolved Local Cases.